Holocene
by Seph Meadowes
Summary: A week ago, Caroline Forbes was perfectly Normal but some gifts are hard to ignore and now she has to choose what she has to become - Hero or Villain? Add in the new Villains out to get her and an arrogant pyrokinetic who makes her all fluttery, being Gifted could just turn out to be more of a curse than a blessing. For omil's one year birthday.


**In celebration for _one million invisible lines_' one year birthday, I've made one of the written stories into a chaptered fic. You guys voted for_ i need a hero_ on the pole on my profile and here it is. **

**I'm a bit unsure about this chapter so leave a review and tell me what you think please. Does Caroline seem too whiny? You can also suggest which characters from TVD you'd like to see more and find out what power I'm going to give them. And now on to the chapter!**

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_Chapter One - Ready. Aim. Freeze._

I am probably the only girl in the city who isn't bouncing with joy right now. You see other Normal girls would jump at the chance to attend St. Gabriel's Academy for the Gifted. Other Normal girls would be over the moon to learn that they are not one of the many ordinary non-Gifted individuals in the world and are in fact, able to do exceptional things outside of what Normal humans are supposed to be able to do. But the thing is, other Normal girls aren't me.

I spent almost sixteen years of my existence firmly believing and accepting of the fact I was ordinary, not special. I couldn't fly or set things on fire because of a special extra gene in my body. I was happy to attend my public school, I was happy to date other Normal boys and I was happy to be Normal. And then last week happened.

Long story short, I got picked by random lottery for _Citizen Protection_ and got paired up with some arrogant hothead. He saved my ass a few times because his psychotic half-brother kept trying to get to me and when said psycho finally successfully kidnapped me, the asshole tells me the truth about my nana and forced me to use my apparent superpower. And now everything is shit.

Not only do I have to transfer schools and live there because St. Gabriel's has dormitories, I have to somehow accept the fact that my nana was a powerful Gifted individual who tried to take over the world via stealing other Gifteds' abilities. And my parents didn't tell me about that or about me. I was lied to by my family to keep me safe and I understood that but I was still hurt.

When my parents dropped me off at St. Gabriel's, the awkwardness was a suffocating blanket around us in the car. My parents both looked so guilty about everything and I tried to tell them it was okay but nothing was appeasing it. My dad kept wincing every time he met my eye in the rearview mirror and mom wouldn't look me in the eye at all.

When we arrived outside the school, the gates opened to let us in and at the front double doors of the school was Headmaster Lockwood. He shook hands with my parents before turning to me.

"You must be Caroline." He's smiling but there's a glint of something in his eyes that make me uncomfortable and I try my best imitation of a smile and nod. "Come, I'll give you the tour."

I turned to say goodbye to my parents. I wanted to hug my mom but she still wouldn't look at me but dad stepped forward and enveloped me in a fierce hug and suddenly it was like I was four years old again and he could make everything better, like he could make everything Normal again. "I love you, okay? No matter what."

"I love you too."

He released me and I left my parents and followed Headmaster Lockwood into the school.

The school was one large mansion with three floors. First floor was offices, kitchens, lounge rooms and classrooms. Second floor for dorms and third floor, which was more like an attic, was for storage. Underneath the school was another floor a large clinic, some laboratories, a meeting room and a battle room for Defense classes.

"Defense?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Headmaster Lockwood smiled at me patiently. "Heroes should learn how to fight, right? Don't worry. We're tough on our students but nothing too dangerous."

That gleam in his eye was still there and I tried to place it but he turned away and led us back up the stairs to show us what was outside. At the back of the mansion was a large garden with those freaking hedge mazes I didn't think even existed anymore outside of a historical drama with lawn tables and chairs, a pool, and a greenhouse. I tried not to gawk but it was hard.

I never ever thought I'd get to see past the large steel gates of the academy and there I was about to attend this school and officially be one of the Gifted. Or maybe not. As we passed by the classrooms, several students turned to look my way as I passed by the open doorways, eyes curious or with the same gleam in their eyes as Headmaster Lockwood.

Headmaster Lockwood dropped me off outside my dorm as he had to get back to his office. He said I had a roommate but he would leave me to acquaint myself with her, whoever it was.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I'd been feeling out of it the whole day and lying down on a soft bed to forget everything for a few hours sounded heavenly. The fact I was here at this school was surreal. I kept thinking maybe this was all a dream I made up but every time I pinched myself I was still here.

I knocked on the door, once, twice and the door was opened by a familiar blonde. It was Kol's sister, Klaus' half-sister, the blonde with the iciest eyes I've ever seen. And I remembered Klaus mentioning something about her power being just about that – ice.

"Oh, you." The way she was staring me down made me self-conscious. She didn't look happy to see me. "They told me you were coming."

She moved aside to let me in and I stepped into the dorm. Rebekah's side of the room had her mark all over it, light blue bed sheets, picture collages and Old Jazz posters on the wall, and a glass rose figurine by her bedside table that looked almost like it was carved from ice.

"That's your side," She pointed to the bare mattress, end table and dark wood closet. "Just keep your things over there please and we'll get along fine."

There was a hint of sarcasm to her words but I ignored it to put my stuff down to unpack my sheets and comforter. As I made my bed, I finally noticed Rebekah eyeing me critically from where she was seated on her bed.

"Yes?" I prompted.

She cocked her head to the side and kept assessing me, "I don't see it."

"See what?"

"Why everyone's so afraid of you," She answered and it dawned on me the gleam I saw in people's eyes all day – _fear_. They were afraid of me and not just students but adults too.

"But that's ridiculous," I told her. "I'm just a girl."

"Who can have any power she wants," Rebekah stood up and took the glass of water off her end table and walked over to me. She handed out the glass for me to take. "Freeze this."

I looked from the glass to her and shook my head. "I-I don't know how."

"You used Kol's power without thinking about it. You sent a gust of fire so strong at Nik he's still in confinement." Rebekah pursed her lips in annoyance. "This should be easy. I'm not telling you to make snow. Just freeze the water."

Her light blue eyes stared me down and I reached out to touch the glass in her hand, at the first contact of my fingertips on it, the water froze and expanded making the glass crack and Rebekah let it go as it collapsed into a million tiny pieces and the frozen water was a tube of ice on the floor.

She nudged it with her boot before looking up to smirked at me, impressed. "Now that's better."

I looked at her in apprehension, not really knowing what to say or do next.

"Did you get Headmaster Lockwood's power too?" She frowned when I shrugged. "Do you even know what his power is?"

I winced. "No."

She sighed before explaining. "He's an Empath and can control people's emotions with a touch. Didn't he try to put you at ease earlier?"

I shook my head. "He never touched me."

"Well, you can't blame him." She shook her head. "You can never be too careful with Helen Coleman's granddaughter."

I stiffened at the mention of my nana and she continued talking. "We're all waiting to see what you're going to be like, you know. Hero or Villain? Are you going to forge a new way for yourself or follow your family legacy?"

I didn't answer and looked away from her. She chuckled. "Well, we'll find out soon enough."

There was a knock on the door and Rebekah moved past me to open it. "What do you want?" She asked whoever was outside shrilly, annoyance laced with every syllable.

"I'm not here for you, Bekah." Wait, I know that voice. "I'm here for your new roommate."

I closed my eyes and tried to will away the boy who I heard entering the room from behind me. Maybe I was able to get a power to fulfill wishes from one of the people here but maybe not because soon enough I felt Kol's scorching breath at my ear. "Hello again, sweetheart."

I inwardly groaned and didn't move even as he grabbed my arm gently and turned me around to face him. I kept my eyes firmly shut even as he chuckled in amusement and started caressing my cheek with his warm fingertips. "You're just going to hope I disappear, aren't you, Forbes? Come on. I thought you were braver than that."

I opened my eyes slowly and was greeted by the all-too smug smirk and dark eyes of Kol Mikaelson."Go away." I told him.

His smirk bloomed to a full smile and the effect on me was unwarranted. There was fluttering in my belly. I hated fluttering. Fluttering was for ninnies and I was no ninny.

"No. You don't mean that." He leaned closer until our foreheads were nearly touching. It felt strangely intimate. "You totally pined for me since we last saw each other, didn't you? Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep and just listening to _Total Eclipse of the Heart_?"

I glared at him annoyance. "So is that what you did for the week?"

He raised both eyebrows and leaned down to surely kiss me when Rebekah cleared her throat. "Could the two of you kindly take your sickening acts of affection elsewhere? It's nauseating."

Kol gave her a two-fingered salute as he took my hand and pulled me out of my dorm. Rebekah slammed the door after us and Kol intertwined our fingers before running down the hallway to the stairs, forcing me to keep up with him.

"Wait!" I exclaimed. "Where are you taking me?"

He didn't turn to look at me as he replied. "I'm introducing you."

Dread pooled in my gut. "To who?"

"Everyone." I gasped and dug my heels into the hallway's carpet, forcing Kol to stop and swerve around to look at me. "What?"

"I'm-" How could I explain this to him? "I don't think I want to be socializing just yet. I just thought maybe I'd rest for today and save the making friends thing for tomorrow."

He considered me for a moment before narrowing his eyes as he realized something. "You're scared."

"It's not that." I was nervous about attending school and have to spend time with practical strangers but I had a different reason for being unsure about the people there. "Rebekah said everyone's afraid of me."

He shook his head. "I'm not."

"Yeah, well, from the way you provoked your brother, I kinda summed up that you're a bit reckless."

He grinned at that. "Really? Clever girl."

"Anyway. I'm exhausted about all of this. I haven't quite caught up on it yet," I touched his elbow with a light touch and he glanced down at it then to me with those dark eyes that seemed more brown that black at the moment. "Maybe we can we do something else? "

He looked disagreeable before his eyes softened and he smiled. "Whatever you say, sweetheart."

I smiled back and he led me down the stairs, my hand still in his.

I looked at my free hand, the one I touched his elbow with and sighed. Maybe I did get Headmaster Lockwood's power after all. And I did it without thinking about it, like it was so easy.

"_We're all waiting to see what you're going to be like, you know. Hero or Villain? Are you going to forge a new way for yourself or follow your family legacy?"_

I guess we were all waiting for what I was going to become.


End file.
